A VERY nicely designed and remodeled property right in the heart of downtown Stamford, near all the night life with easy access to i95. While small, the place is full of elegant modern touches that set it apart from the big chains. We have stayed twice now, and both times experienced building issues. The first time (December 2011) there was an emergency repair of their hot water unit, and we were left with no hot water the morning of our departure. After a brief foul exchange with their overnight desk (more on that later) we were greeted at checkout by the property manager who apologized profusely for the fluke event, and immediately comped one of our nights. He actually offered to comp both room nights, but we declined such generosity. We were obviously upset about the inconvenience, but after we stopped dealing with the overnight guy, and talked with the more professional staff, we felt very well taken care of. Things happen, and they said/did all the right things to make us happy on our way out. We stayed at Zero Degrees again this past December, and unfortunately had another issue with the building. We were having a very extreme bit of weather, with 40+ mph winds and monsoon rains, and we had a bit of water seeping into the carpet under our room window. Again, this was an unforeseen random event, and far beyond the normal issue. When I went to the desk to report it and request another room, I was bummed/surprised to see the same jerk at the desk as our previous visit. Luckily, he appeared to be taking a phone call and didn't even acknowledge me in any way as I approached. One of his co-workers, a fine young man who had gone above and beyond on multiple occasions during our stay (went out in the freezing rain and bought us bottled water on the desk's dime when the vending machine on our floor was temporarily out of service!) was directed by the jerk to take care of me. He did this by snapping his fingers in the air like he was calling a dog, and waving dismissively in my direction. Another vote of appreciation for the fine young man for not punching the jerk's lights out for such a disrespectful display. Who treats a co-worker like that? In front of a guest, no less?
So the short of this long write up is, great property with a few building issues that they are handling in exemplary fashion. Stay away from the desk after hours until they get rid of the bad apple, but the rest of the staff are models of the hospitality industry. When the same fine young man moved our bags into the new room for us (they upgraded us to a suite, btw) he refused a tip, just as he had when he brought us the water. A note to management: When your entire staff is praised for treating your guests like royalty, while you have multiple reports of your overnight desk being manned by an unprofessional cretin, you know who it is, and you should know where to cut fat.